Have you heard about Rice’s big announcement? In September, the university unveiled a new financial aid initiative — The Rice Investment — that will build upon the university’s commitment to affordability by significantly expanding support for low- and middle-income families. To learn more about how this may impact you and your Owl, visit rice.edu/thericeinvestment.

For the third consecutive decade, Rice ranks among the top 20 national universities in the U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Colleges” guidebook. Not only did Rice retain its top-20 status (No. 16 overall), something it has done since first appearing on the list in 1988, but it also remained the highest ranked university in Texas.

On Oct. 16, Rice announced that it will expand its faculty and invest in graduate programs in neuroengineering, synthetic biology and physical biology through an $82 million investment in strategic initiatives. Rice President David Leebron said the initiatives approved by the Rice Board of Trustees will allow the university to add 10 new faculty members, build out research space in the BioScience Research Collaborative and add programmatic support.

On Sept. 13, Rice hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for the Patricia Lipoma Kraft ’87 and Jonathan A. Kraft Hall for Social Sciences. The building will become a new home for the School of Social Sciences. It is expected to be completed by November 2019 and open prior to the spring semester in 2020. As President David Leebron said at the ceremony: “The School of Social Sciences is on a roll.” Watch a video from the groundbreaking here.

World-renowned computer scientist Moshe Vardi was recently promoted to University Professor, Rice’s highest academic title. He is just the eighth person in the university’s 106-year history to receive the honor. Other University Professors include bioengineering and global health pioneer Rebecca Richards-Kortum, Nobel laureates Robert Curl and the late Richard Smalley, and the late former President Malcom Gillis.

Meet a group of young alumni who are bringing uncommon enthusiasm, focus and passion to their unfolding lives — whether as young professionals in law, medicine and government service, or budding artists who are making their way (and creating a buzz) in the filmmaking or classical music worlds.

Wayne Graham is a product of baseball’s golden age. A time when the game stood, unquestioned, as the nation’s pastime, and those who played it were hailed as heroes, never farther than 60 feet, 6 inches from glory. Graham ushered in a similarly magical time for Rice baseball. But when golden ages fade, what happens to their heroes?